


He'll Stay That Way

by idra



Series: 31 Days of Fic (August 2016) [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Mentions of Tony Stark's past bad behavior, ignoring civil war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 10:05:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7680232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idra/pseuds/idra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony is a tramp, but Steve still loves him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He'll Stay That Way

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 3. I had a migraine and therefore didn't get anything done yesterday, but it's slightly better today, so I thought I'd try to write at least part of it. Imagine my surprise when it ended up nearly 2k. I also know I just wrote Steve/Tony yesterday, but this song SCREAMED Tony to me. Of course, that makes Steve Lady, but... meh.
> 
> Song for today is "He's a Tramp" from Lady and the Tramp.

Walking into the ballroom is like walking into another era, Steve thinks to himself as he glances at the decorations. Tony had gone all out in the Forties era Gala. He’d even found a tailor who could create tuxes for both of them, though Steve had asked his to be his former uniform. Not the Captain American uniform, but his actual Army dress suit. 

Astonishingly, Tony looked more like his father than ever before, even if Steve had never seen Howard gone gray at the temples. He’s glad for that, because it keeps him more focused on the here and now. Which is the most recent Stark Foundation Gala, though the proceeds won’t go to the usual areas. No, Tony had talked to the Board of Directors of the Foundation and they’d agreed that this could be a one-time Gala to raise money for Disabled American Vets. All because Steve had asked who exactly he could get to help Bucky recover from the years he’d spent under Hydra’s influence. 

Now that Steve has arrived, separately from his lover at Pepper’s insistence that Tony arrive early, he’s apparently in time to see the Tony Stark Show. He raises an eyebrow as a handsome man approaches Tony, speaking too rapidly for Steve to catch anything, but Tony gives his most gracious smile, pats the man on the shoulder and turns them away from the watchful eyes of the crowd.

After a few minutes, the man goes on his way, looking disappointed and rejected. Steve knows he shouldn’t feel happy about that, but he is. It’s not even that he minds Tony having so many adoring fans, it’s that he knows exactly what kind of guy Tony was before Iron Man. Back in his day, he would’ve likened Tony’s behavior to that of Bucky’s. Both of them tramps and not ashamed of it.

Steve swallows hard and heads over to the bar, looking over the drink menu. He orders a Commando, solely based on the name and turns back to continue watching Tony schmooze with the crowd. He tenses a little when he sees Tony bow to a gorgeous redhead and kiss her knuckles and he squeezes the drink in his hand so hard he hears the glass crack when Tony pulls the woman into his arms and kisses her. He sets the glass down on the bar with a clank and makes his way towards the doors. It’s one thing to stand aside and watch Tony flirt like he needs it to breathe, but it’s another to watch his lover put his lips on someone else and kiss them that intimately.

He feels a hand on his shoulder and he turns, ready to give someone hell when he catches sight of Bucky, all dressed up in his own dress uniform. “Buck?”

“Hey.” Bucky smiles a little and glances over his shoulder. “Fancy little get together your beau has going on.” 

“Not my beau,” Steve grumbles, glancing around. “Look, I’m ecstatic that you’re out and about, Buck, but I’ve gotta get outta here. I need to go punch something.”

“Ah, you caught Stark’s little show with ‘Tash.”

“What?” Steve doesn’t even look at Bucky, but glances around until he spots the redhead-- who is, in fact, Natasha, not just some random redhead. He flushes a little and ducks his head. “Great. Now I gotta get outta here ‘cause I made an ass outta myself.”

“Nothing new there,” Bucky murmurs. “C’mon. ‘Tash wants to see you all dolled up. You sure do fill out that uniform nice, Stevie.”

“What are you doing out anyhow? Wasn’t it part of the agreement that you not be out in public?”

“Unless I’m with an Avenger,” Bucky replies and gestures around the room. “You’re all here, so... Fury convinced everyone it’d be safe as long as the Avengers were here too.” He smiles a little. “You know, I definitely don’t swing that way, but your man is looking real good today. You should be with him.”

“Pepper thinks I’m bad for his image or something,” Steve mumbles, staring down at his shoes as Bucky pulls him through the crowd. 

“Pepper’s wrong,” Bucky says, voice firm and just shy of angry. “I’ve read all about Tony before and after Iron Man and even Nat says he’s a much better man now that he has you.”

“I hurt his public image. Privately, she doesn’t care. She just...”

“She’s jealous then,” Bucky says, stopping in the middle of the crowded room. “He did, after all, go from being hers exclusively to being yours.”

“It wasn’t like that. They’d been apart like a year and a half.”

“She probably expected him to come crawling back.” Bucky grabs Steve’s shoulders and shakes him. “Look, I ain’t saying Pepper ain’t a great lady, but she’s only human. All humans are capable of petty jealousy. We can’t all be good people like you, Stevie. And, by the way, what does Tony have to say about you being bad for his public image?”

“I don’t think he knows she said that.”

“Well, he knows now,” Tony says and Steve’s head snaps up, his eyes going wide. “God damn it, Steve, why didn’t you tell me? Fuck my public image. I’m in love with you. In fact...” He smirks, leans in and kisses Steve, and then heads through the crowd. Steve watches, helpless and more than a little confused, as Tony makes his way to the little bandstand. “Everyone! Can I have your attention please?”

The crowd quiets and turns to face Tony and Steve shakes his head, waving his arms to try to get Tony to stop. He’s a little startled when Rhodey appears next to him and he looks at Tony’s best friend. “Stop him! He’s going to get in trouble with Pepper!” 

“You don’t stop Tony from doing what Tony wants. You just try to do damage control.” Rhodey smirks and shakes his head. “Besides, what’s the worst that can happen? He tells everyone he’s gay? Been there, done that.”

“Thank you!” Tony grins at the crowd and gestures around him. “First off, I’d like to tell everyone thank you for coming tonight and donating to this very worthy cause. There are millions of disabled vets in our country and we worry more about what’s trending on Twitter than we do the people who we owe our freedom to. While the Board and I agreed this would be a one-time thing, I think that we’ll start spreading the love around more than we have in the past.” He nods and gestures for the applause to die down. 

“Now, normally, you all know this, I hate giving speeches. But something rather important has come to my attention this evening. Apparently, my CEO has been telling my lover that he’s bad for my public image.” The crowd goes quiet and eerily still. “Now, I love Pepper. She’s one of my best friends; hell, she’s one of my only friends. But for her to say that to my lover, without speaking to me about it, that concerns me. And I can see her stalking towards me right now, and she’ll likely stab me in the throat with the outrageously high heels she always wears, but I am going to say my piece.”

Steve watches the whole show like he’s stuck back on that train, watching Bucky fall. It’s not as serious as that, he knows, but at this moment, it definitely feels like he’s about to lose everything. He watches as Sharon and Natasha and Wanda all move in front of Tony, blocking Pepper from actually getting to him. He frowns-- he hadn’t thought they’d like him and Tony being together.

Tony continues talking, smiling softly down at Pepper. “I love you, I do. But you had no right to tell him he’s bad for my image.” He focuses back on the crowd and Steve inhales sharply at the intense look that has Tony’s eyes narrowing. “Some of you will have a lot of shit to talk, when I announce who my lover is. Some of you will say I’m corrupting him, and a few of you will agree with Pepper. I honestly don’t give a fuck.” Tony pauses, glancing down at the women in front of him. “You’re right, Sharon. You’re right. He may not want to be outed.” Tony glances around the room, eyes locking on Steve’s for several long seconds before he moves on. “If you’re okay with me outing you and announcing our relationship, please, come forward. If not, I’m sorry if I’ve embarrassed you.”

Steve takes a deep breath and glances at Rhodey, then at Bucky. The James’ both smile at him and Bucky pushes him forward. Steve glances to the side and notices another man moving forward, smirking at the room and he pauses, watching the other man move straight to the stage. Steve’s pulse skyrockets and he can only stare at Tony for a moment. He starts to take a step back when he hears Tony laughing into the microphone. 

“Please, whoever you are. Get away from me. My lover is ten times the man you are. Not to mention, my man would never claim he was someone’s lover when they’d never even met. Nice try at getting famous though.” Tony looks out over the crowd and Steve can tell that he’s spotting the reporters in the crowd. “Do me a favor, even though most of you reporters hate me; don’t give this man a second of your time.”

Steve inhales and starts forward, letting his breath out slowly. He heads for the stage eyes on Tony the whole time. Tony smiles and holds his hand out to Steve, pulling Steve onto the stage next to him. “Ladies and Gentlemen, my lover, Steve Rogers.” He looks up at Steve, one perfect sculpted eyebrow raised.

Without taking his eyes from Tony, Steve takes the mic and, with a smile, says, “No one needs to warn me about Tony. I know exactly who he is. A good man with a good heart and that’s all I ever want in my life.” Steve swallows hard and licks his lips. “Wanna make things official, Tone?”

“Steve?” Tony takes a small step back, shifting side to side.

Steve finally breaks away from Tony’s gaze and looks to where Bucky is. Bucky beams at him and nods and Steve drops to one knee, pulling the small box he’s been carrying with him for the last ten months. “Tony, I love you. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone. I want to spend my life proving to you that you are everything to me.”

“Oh my God,” Steve hears from nearby. It takes him a moment, but he finally realizes it came from Pepper. “I didn’t know, Natasha. I thought it was just some fling of Tony’s. You know how he is.”

Steve blocks them out and watches Tony. “It’d be nice if you answered me, Tone. Don’t leave me hangin’ here.” 

Tony laughs a little and pulls out an identical box, opening it and showing it to Steve. “I’ll agree to marry you if you agree to marry me. Idiot. I was going to wait until we got home tonight.” 

“I’ve been searching for a way to ask for months,” Steve murmurs as he stands and wraps his arms around Tony. “Thanks for the party,” he says as he sets the mic aside and puts the ring for Tony on Tony’s finger. Tony slips his ring onto Steve’s hand and they just grin at one another until Natasha pulls them off the stage. 

“Okay, lovebirds. Go find your table. Food’s about to be served and there’s no way you two can skip out yet.” She pushes them towards the tables and Steve takes Tony’s hand as they go. He can’t stop smiling. Even if Tony was a tramp before, he’s settled down now and that’s all that matters.

the end


End file.
